Spade Racing: 2025

Spade Racing Opens Two Blaster Boxes of 2025 Select Cards—Pack 2 of 12

Rather than a “hobby box”, I decided to go with the more economical choice of two “Blaster Boxes” for the 2025 Select cards. With six packs of five cards each in each box, that’s twelve packs to open!

Pack 2: Driver X, a Bit of a Flex, and Faux Tex-Mex

First Look: I’m sure Corey has a bright future in the sport, but with HendrickCars sponsoring so many drivers, they all kind of blend together. Well, besides Rajah Caruth.

To the Back: JoLo basically saying he’s great but could be better is the Nascar equivalent of the A-list celebrity saying they were unpopular in high school.

Say What: “Um, excuse me, but is the Chimichanga spicy, or as you would say, ‘En Fuego’?”

Final Rating: 5 starts mistakenly called restarts out of 10

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Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Mark Martin (part 2)

Mark’s final year with three teams (2013)

Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).

Courtesy USA Today

Why? Mark Martin moved to a part-time schedule for a second time in 2012, this time with Michael Waltrip Racing. However, downtime allowed him to be a “super-sub” of sorts in 2013, as he made a single start for Joe Gibbs Racing and twelve late-season starts for Stewart-Haas Racing.

How successful were they? Martin’s third-place finish in the 2013 Daytona 500 for MWR would be his lone top-five, but he still acquitted himself well for all three teams he ran for. As an injury sub for Denny Hamlin Martin came home tenth, and as an injury sub for Tony Stewart he posted seven top-twenty finishes, with a best of ninth at Richmond.

What was the aftermath? Martin would step back from racing after the conclusion of the 2013 racing, and is effectively retired.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 1 annoying Aaron’s commercial out of 10—Mark seemed to be doing what he wanted to do his final year, and that was running the best equipment he could find.

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AUTO-Biographies: DW: A Lifetime Going Around in Circles

Author(s): Darrell Waltrip with Jade Gurss

The Good: This book is very well-balanced—DW & Jade don’t skip over anything, nor do they dwell on anything. So we get a relatively fast read that doesn’t feel shallow. Darrell Waltrip had an interesting career, and this book covers all of it, from the highs (his time with Junior Johnson, his Daytona 500 win) to the lows (his disappointing on-track performance at the end of his career). Plus we get a nice little bonus in end-of-chapter blurbs from competitors and friends.

The Not-so-good: For a controversial driver, Darrell sure presents himself as a hero in this book. A lot of his trash-talking and mind games are fobbed off, as are some of his questionable business dealings (like getting out of his contract with Junior Johnson). Also, despite being published in 2004, the book ends with the 2000 awards banquet.

What I’d Change: I’d have encouraged a bit more humility from Waltrip here, as well as perhaps an epilogue about his early broadcasting career.

Read It?: Yes, but keep in mind it’s very one-sided.

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A MOXOC Media production

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Spade Racing Opens Two Blaster Boxes of 2025 Select Cards—Pack 1 of 12

Pack 1: The Queen, the Dream, and an Awkward Scream

First Look: Here we see what the basic Select card design is. A great look, but as with most super-premium cards, the gloss is intense, leading to plenty of pictures with my phone shadow in reflection.

To the Back: “The harder you work at it, the better you get at it”, good advice from a guy who won his second-ever Cup start.

Say What: “Say, who was the celebrity Subway sent to celebrate with me—AHHH!!!”

Final Rating: 3 pre-race interviews out of 10

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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

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A MOXOC Media production

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Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Mark Martin (part 1)

Mark Martin runs the Morgan-McClure #4 (1983)

Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).

Mark Martin racing one of James Hylton's cars,
Courtesy NASCAR Legends on Twitter

Why? After a promising start to the 1983 season with the controversial JD Stacy, Mark Martin soon found himself out of a ride. Meanwhile, Morgan-McClure Motorsports had just entered Cup. After a single race with Connie Saylor, MMM signed Martin to drive their 4 car on a part-time basis.

How successful were they? In just six races (plus a DNQ) Martin posted a single top-ten finish for MMM.

What was the aftermath? Martin would largely retreat to the ASA Series before making a triumphant comeback to Cup racing with another new team, Roush Racing. Morgan-McClure, meanwhile, would continue to be a middling organization until hitting pay dirt by hiring Ernie Irvan, and later Sterling Marlin.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 2 WD-brand steaks out of 10—Mark had a strange start to his career, so having him hook up with a fledging MMM team isn’t all that odd.

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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

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A MOXOC Media production

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AUTO-Biographies: Junior Johnson: Brave in Life

Author(s): Tom Higgins & Steve Waid

The Good: First off, this is more of a “coffee table” book—that is, it’s larger than most paperbacks, and goes heavy on pictures. But that’s not a bad thing! Junior seemed to be about 99% on-board with the authors, providing a detailed look back at his life in (and out) of racing, warts and all. Junior delves deep into things such as his bootlegging/moonshining past, his business partners, and various drivers—and you can tell he wasn’t holding back in his interviews.

The Not-so-good: That 1% Junior held back on? His messy divorce from his wife Flossie, which had a massive impact on the future of his race team. The book also seems to have a bit of a rushed finish to it—after Darrell Waltrip leaves the team, there’s a few pages on subsequent drivers, but then it just kind of ends.

What I’d Change: Back in 1999 I would have maybe prodded Junior to explain more about his reasons for leaving the sport, or more pictures of what the race shop looked like at the time after its abandonment (only one is shown).

Read It?: Yes, it’s a great look back at the history of NASCAR from the start to the mid-90’s from the inside-out.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

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A MOXOC Media production

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Spade Racing Opens a 2025 Donruss Hobby Box: Pack 16 of 16

It’s back to new cards, with a “hobby box” of 2025 Donruss racing cards. There’s sixteen packs, so join me as I go through each of them!

Pack 16 of 16: Good Show, Pre-Blow, and Y Tho

First Look: Jesse Love has had one of those slow-but-steady rises through the ranks that, with any luck, will have him subordinate to Austin Dillon in Cup by 2027.

To the Back: This was before Harrison found out he’d be running for a mid-pack Xfinity Series team full-time in 2025. Yeah.

Say What: “Y tho”

Final Rating: 6 checkered flags out of 10

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

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A MOXOC Media production

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Spade Racing Opens Two Blaster Boxes of 2025 Select Cards—Preview

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

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Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Bill Elliott

Bill Elliott Racing “returns” for sponsorship reasons (2004)

Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).

A Diecast of the car, courtesy Trackside Signatures

Why? After retiring from full-time driving after the 2003 season, Bill Elliott prepared to run part-time for Evernham Motorsports in the #91 R&D car. One problem—Elliott had sponsorship from Coca-Cola, which conflicted with Evernham Associate sponsor Mountain Dew. To solve the issue, Elliott ran three races with Coca-Cola and McDonalds sponsorship under the banner of Bill Elliott Racing, previously used for his #94 car in the 1990s.

How successful were they? While this was very much a research and development operation, the results were still disappointing for a legend like Elliott, who finished 18th, 25th, and 22nd in his “self-owned” 98 Dodge.

What was the aftermath? Elliott (and his valuable past-champion’s provisional) would run for a number of different teams until he quietly retired from Cup competition following the 2012 season. All of them came for other owners—none in his own car.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 4 Coca-Cola C2’s out of 10—it wasn’t all THAT strange, but still, it’s great to see a former race team reborn for no other reason than a sponsorship conflict.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

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Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

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A MOXOC Media production

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AUTO-Biographies: All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story

Author(s): Geoff Bodine & Dominic Aragon

The Good: I’d say that the “middle third” of this book is fantastic—pretty much anything from his time signing with Rick Hendrick through the 1995 season. Geoff doesn’t hold back when discussing his moral stumbles, nor does he use it as an excuse for why things went the way they did. Also, while this book was published by a Christian publisher, religion is barely mentioned until the final chapter.

The Not-so-good: Oh boy—well, the first few chapters are mostly about how great Geoff had it growing up. He seems to have a sort of love affair with Hendrick Motorsports—every other team owner gets shade. Near the end of the book he goes on and on about how sponsor/team-owner/etc. screwed him out of money or an opportunity. He makes a very brief mention of his infamous feud with brother Brett, but doesn’t go into detail at all. But the worst part? It’s full of odd typos and printing errors.

What I’d Change: It would be easy and cheesy to say “All of It”, but maybe another re-write (and proofreading session) would’ve salvaged it.

Read It?: No, not unless a second edition comes out to fix the many issues with this book.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

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